Calls of duty means no New Year's Eve holiday

JAKARTA (JP): Although millions of Jakartans celebrated New Year's Eve enthusiastically, a thousand others had to sacrifice their enjoyment simply because they responded to the call of duty.

Those who missed the annual festivities Tuesday night -- from police officers to doctors to street vendors -- worked hard either because they had to or to earn extra money at a time when most city residents were indulging in celebrations.

Alkindi Bahar, a physician on duty at the Cipto Mangunkusumo General Hospital in Central Jakarta, said he accepted the assignment without any complaint.

"I was told that I had to be on duty on the eve of New Year a month earlier, so I was prepared not to join the celebrations," Alkindi, who has worked for the hospital for a year, said.

He said that on Tuesday night he was not as busy as other doctors in the emergency wards who had to treat victims of New Year's Eve accidents and violence.

A traffic police officer, Sgt. Ogan Loviana, said he would have liked to celebrate the event, but as "duty comes first", he had to obey his commander's orders.

"I had expected it to be like this, when I decided to become a police officer," said Ogan, who had to control the traffic at the roundabout in front of Hotel Indonesia from night till dawn.

Being away from his family during holidays is common for 34- year-old Rahadian Arif, a rescue officer employed by Jasa Marga, the state-run company which manages city toll roads.

Rahadian, a father of three, said he was lucky because his wife and children understood his job, which often deprives him of time with his family.

"That's why I always try to make up the time whenever I am off duty." he said.

The same is true for firefighter Kamso, 48, who said he never planned any special family celebration for New Year's Eve.

"I have never had any special agenda for myself or my family on New Year's Eve. My job forces me to stay alert day and night in case anything happens," said Kamso, who works for the Mampang fire brigade in South Jakarta.

Performing one's duty. however, does not necessarily mean that one cannot enjoy the festive mood of New Year's Eve.

Hendra, a security guard at Wisma Nusantara on Jl. Thamrin, Central Jakarta, said he did not mind working on New Year's Eve because he could still watch shows held at the building.

"I can go inside to join the celebration once in a while. At twelve, we blew our trumpets," he said, playing with his paper trumpet.

Hendra said he had spent three New Year's Eves guarding the building since he started working five years ago.

Other round-the-clock service providers include the paging companies. When the clocks struck twelve, marking the beginning of 1997, paging services were inundated with calls.

Fandy, a Starpage operator said he and about 50 other workers received at least 800 calls in the hours around midnight. Fandy, whose shift usually starts at 3 p.m. and lasts until 11 p.m. had to work until 4 a.m. yesterday.

"This is a service company, it is normal for us to work at strange hours like this," he said, adding that the company had promised overtime bonuses, but he did not know how much.

Meanwhile, the celebration which usually becomes a source of profit-making for businesses was not enjoyed by a small es puter vendor on a sidestreet of the Hotel Indonesia roundabout.

The vendor, Suroto, complained that the cool temperature on New Year's Eve made it hard for him to sell his shakes.

"There were a lot more people last year, and the weather was warm so I made about Rp 200,000 (US$83.93) in profit," he said, adding that he only made about Rp 25,000 Tuesday night.

Suroto, who has been selling es puter for 15 years, said working during the holiday is common for him, as he could not spend his time with his wife and children as they live in Klaten, Central Java. (02/05)